The Beginning of the End (Drow)

[Regantor]

"Thanks for the heads upe. And yes. I have three darlings, infacte." Neit added simply, not bothering to account the males. "They perhaps thinke I'm a liddle manipulative, through, perhaps... So we don'te talk so muche. I thinke maybe that's for the beste?..."

She didn't particularly hate them, in all honesty, but the lean woman had spent so much time manipulating and twisting people with nice words throughout her life, that being nice to someone who you could basically just order around didn't seem worthwhile. It always ended up feeling like you were preparing to attack them, even... Thus, distance had always been the lesser evil. Perhaps, in some twisted way, that was only way Neit could think of to grant them some sense of respect and personal freedom. It wasn't a pleasantry she granted to anyone else, anyway.

"...Ite may be a shamefule thinge to say, bute I do perhaps find my lackies more entertaining in their struggle not to be so abhorrente... There is so muche less to ruine d'ere."

"...You and Draeva are astonishingly close, comparatively..." She knew she was treading on thin ice, but chose to try and unravel their oddball relationship anyway. "I wondere exactly how ite is thate you became this way, even... Did... Did she save your life, if ite is not too pryinge of a questione?"

The only other option was the kind of thing you didn't generally bring up in polite conversation.

[Kodos]

"She's my daughter," Aryyna answered simply, with a hint of pride in her voice, "my baby girl."

Another drag. "Even if she is 58. She's still my little baby." Aryyna laughed. "'Sides, poor girl would be lost without me. Can you believe she fucks men? Like, by choice! She enjoys it! And she doesn't even savor her drinks! She's simply incorrigible sometimes."

She shrugged. "Maybe I'll get some granddaughters out of it, at least. I mean, I'm never going to die - of course - but most of my living relatives really don't do the family name credit. Ivonis is okay, sadly he's Eccentric, and worse still, the Goddess saw fit to punish his mother with a male." She laughed softly to herself.

[Regantor]

Neitar seemed to just sort of mull the concept over, allowing a considerable plume of cigar smog to hang in her mouth for a second, then blowing it outwards in a carefully crafted floating ring. Her sharp and predatory, darkened features never seemed to show confusion, but she was letting off perhaps a little element of being uncomfortable.

Was this woman really saying that she cared for Draeva like a... Well, any low dwarf, orc or even goblin trash might demand that they do, for their ugly malformed daughters? Wasn't that just a thing invented by those who had nothing to still feel important, like a willing sort of ownership? What a weird notion for someone who had everything to say...

"...Ite... muste be nice." She let out a soft sigh and gave off a few light kisses onto Aryyna's supple neckline, in a bid to hide her lack of insight. There was just nothing at all in her past experience she could use as a frame of reference. "Hwesta is my youngeste, juste a dearling liddle fourteen... Gettin' raised for me... The more I try and steer 'em, the less interestin' they seem to become, you see..."

Suddenly fighting off the flowing urge to lie back and completely relax her head onto the Illharesses' chest, Neitar reared back upwards and kissed her on the lips deeply, before pulling away, back to her feet.

"...Sorrie, Aryyna, darlin'... Got so many things to attende too... Bute I'll bring you backe... a presente, okay?"

[Kodos]

Aryyna moaned softly at Neit's attentions, clearly enjoying herself. "It's a shame you have to go. Eldaane invited me to watch her new torturer do her stuff. You could have come along." She pulled Neit into a kiss before getting up. "I look forward to our next meeting." She said with a high little giggle. "And my gift."

***

And so the trio once more found themselves in a tavern in Kuttra Taur, once again planning their next move. Still, it hadn't been a total waste so far. Aryyna seemed to like them, and Draeva didn't hate them. And while Aryyna seemed a little odd, she was one of the most powerful women in Drow society, both as a Wizard and as a woman who can make things happen. And, perhaps even more importantly, she did have lots of connections. Maybe she could put in a good word with someone, or help arrange a marriage?

[Evil_Cake]

Alsiif had drifted off to sleep again. And again, her cup of booze was still clutched in her hands, and dangerously close to spilling all over her. This time however, she had much less at risk of being stained. In fact she was naked except for some frilly underwear. It might seem kind of dumb to be asleep in public with absolutely no kind of defense, but maybe Alsiif assumed nobody would waste their time killing her anyways.

[Regantor]

"...North ofe D'issane... and weste ofe Chaths'er..." Neit repeated the directions Aryyna had spoken of, distantly gazing through the red haze of her wine glass. Her dress was rather less informal and rigid today, seeing as they'd been surrounded by rather rich and stuffy so-and-sos quite a bit lately. 'Informal' meant little more than a collection of tight leather belts interconnected by metal hoops, and a pair of feathery plumes at the shoulders and the waist.

The image of Alsiif asleep on the other side caught attention her for a second, making her outwardly grin with a sort of sinister empathy or affection. It was probally best to remember that she also frequently gave this look to her grimlocks, who had faces made of pure teeth, through...

"Didn'te wante to take controle, Ryyna, sorry about thate... You're stille tha wone with tha looks..." She drank deeply from the glass, and then handed the empty vessel to her short red-robed servant adjacent. Another glass was prepared in an impossibly fast split of a second, almost as if the creature was both psychic and had a spare set of arms. "Bute ite would seem such'a waste to ignore oure good fortune with Aryyna as things stande... You didn'te really wante to do the teste yourselfe, did you?..."

[Superdooperphailmachine]

"Well I like not being a Drider." Ryyna threw her wine at the lazy bitch.
"Alsiif, do you want to get chased out of a temple while Neit fucks up a test?"

[Evil_Cake]

Alsiif propped her face up for a second, with eyes still shut, and slurred, "Hah..? Sure.." Then put her head back down.

[Regantor]

"Welle, hey, ite sorta had to be me..." Neit gave Ryyna a surly sideways glance. "Unless you wanna give my drowmales a go, we gotta get things rolling some'mow, sweethearte..."

[Superdooperphailmachine]

"It's your funeral. When you wanna head off?"